Just Another Dang Blog » Online Scams

Another Domain Scam

lopau — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:44:59 +0000

LOL. I opened up my mailbox and got this email which wasn’t filtered as spam.

Dear lopau Team,

Good day to you

We received a formal application from Netlon Company are applying to register ” lopau ” as their website and internet brand name in European, American and Asian area on May 28th 2009. During our auditing procedure we find out that the alleged Netlon Company has no trade mark nor patent even similar to that word. Hence we need you confirmation for two things,

First of all, whether this alleged Netlon Company is your business partner or distributor in business world.

Secondly, whether you are interested in registering these domains and internet keyword.

(.eu/.asia/.cn/.com.cn/.com etc)

This is a letter for confirmation. If we haven’t receive your reply. We will automatically confirm application from Netlon Company after this audit procedure.

Yours Faithfully,

Robin

Registration Commissioner

China Anti-Cybersquatting Organization

‘Tel: +00852 8135 9416

Web: www.mwwgroup.org

Goodluck Robin! Batman’s not taking the bait.

Domain Buyer? hmm smells like a scam!

lopau — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:12:04 +0000

I got this email yesterday. It made me excited for a chance to turn one of my domains to some bucks, BUT one thing I learned online is if it is too good to be true, then it must be a scam. Plus the email has the looks of a generic email.

Hi,

my name is Brandon Birdwell and I would be interested in buying your domain xxxxxxx.COM from you. Are you interested in selling it? If yes, how much would you want for it? What payment method would you prefer?

And just in case you are wondering how I got your email, anyone can get that info at whois.net

Regards,

Brandon Birdwell

B2B Sites and Western Union Scam

lopau — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:40:38 +0000

There is a growing scam that even the internet savvy may fall victim to. I’m in need of a chip reseter for a particular toner model. I Googled it and ended up at Alibaba.com for companies selling chip reseters. This chip reseter for the toner model is very rare and I saw only three companies selling them. In short there is a low niche for this market.

Question: Why would scam artists bother with this type of products, unlike most scam artist who goes for the more popular gadgets like ipods, laptops, consoles, etc?

The answer: It is very convincing to the buyer.

What I learned is this- most companies listed on Alibaba.com, ec21.com and B2B(Business to Business) sites are fake companies. There are only a few legit companies.
I did my research on the company and owner. The company has a website, a product list, images and specs. Some pages on site though is still under construction. Images are even watermarked with the website url, website has complete contact information, email and phone number. My gut tells me that 50/50, this could be a scam but the device is rare and not many people know that you can reset toner chips, so how could this be a scam. The company is only listed on B2B sites with no reviews and no feedbacks.
If it passes 2, you should have caught it as a scam when the only payment methods are Western Union and moneygram. But then again the item being rare, why would anyone bother.

Sending money via Western Union is one way, there is no insurance, there is nothing that can be done to get your money back if scammed. They only assist in black listing the person and in filing a complaint with the local police in that country.

I’m still hopeful that it’s not a scam, but I know it is. By the end of the week I’ll spill the beans so this so-called company cannot further scam anybody else.

A very hard lesson learned. When dealing with people in the Internet if your gut tells you it could be a scam then it must be.